Guidelines for evaluation terms of reference

This tool from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) provides a template for developing a Terms of Reference (ToR) for an evaluation.  It includes detailed guidance and tips for completing each section of the ToR.

Excerpt

"These guidelines assist Project Managers in the preparation of Terms of Reference (ToR), i.e. the “contract” between UNODC and the Evaluator(s), in the aim of improving quality of evaluation in UNODC. The guidelines below should be read together with the Evaluation Policy and Evaluation Handbook and must be tailored to the needs of each project or programme." (UNODC, 2013)

Contents

  • Background and context
  • Disbursement history
  • Purpose of the evaluation
  • Scope of the evaluation
  • Evaluation criteria and key evaluation questions
  • Evaluation methodology
  • Timeframe and deliverables
  • Evaluation team composition
  • Management of evaluation process
  • Payment modalities
  • Annexes:
  • Job descriptions of evaluators
  • List of background documents for the desk review
  • List of CLP members
  • UNODC standard format and guidelines for evaluation reports

Sources

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), (2013). Guidelines for evaluation terms of reference. Retrieved from website: http://www.unodc.org/documents/evaluation/Guidelines/Guidelines_for_Evaluation_TOR_July_2013.pdf